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Thursday, January 2, 2014

Women of the Wall Upset as Torah Scroll Banned from Kotel

The controversial women’s prayer group Women of the Wall
held its monthly Rosh Hodesh prayers at the Kotel (Western Wall) on Thursday in
honor of the first day of the new Hebrew month.

The group brought roughly 200 worshipers - an unusually
large number given the group's usual attendance of several dozen at best. While
the group was allowed in to pray, the Torah scroll they had planned to use in
their service was not allowed in.

The group’s insistence on holding public Torah readings led
by women is part of what has led to conflict over its activities. Religious
leaders at the site have argued that the public Torah readings, which are not
customary in the women’s prayer section, are distracting to other worshipers.

According to Jewish tradition, women are exempt from the
command to hold group prayers. The women’s section of the Kotel has
traditionally been a place for individual prayer, while prayers with a quorum
of ten men are held in the men’s section.

While Women of the Wall is pushing to change that tradition,
many women have spoken out in favor of the status quo, and have publicly
supported religious and political leaders in preserving “undisturbed
traditional prayer” at the holy site.

More controversially, whilst most of their activities
"merely" challenge traditional practices and customs, critics point
out that their insistence on conducting services with a Torah scroll -
including the Blessings over the Torah - directly contravene Jewish law
(Halakha), and are therefore objectively inappropriate for the Kotel. According
to Jewish law, such blessings can only be made by someone fulfilling a Torah
obligation; since women are exempt from the obligation of reading from the
Torah, reciting the relevant blessings is strictly forbidden.

Women of the Wall activists expressed frustration Thursday
over the decision to prohibit their planned Torah reading. “We’re stuck. One
the one hand, according to Judge Moshe Sobol, we’re legally allowed to pray
with a Torah scroll. On the other hand, the Kotel Rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel
Rabinovich, prevents us from bringing our Torah scroll in,” charged director
Leslie Sachs.

Rabbi Rabinovich also does not allow the group to use Torah
scrolls from the men’s prayer section “which are meant for all worshipers,” she
added.

Rabbi Rabinovich is openly critical of the group, which he
has accused of deliberately provoking conflict and ignoring others’
sensitivities.

Government officials have stepped in to mediate the
controversy over Women of the Wall, and are working to create an alternate
prayer space where the group can hold its non-traditional prayers without
causing a disruption. The group has already rejected an earlier attempt at a
compromise which saw the government building an alternative prayer site dubbed
"Ezrat Yisrael".

Members of the organization say that until their demands are
met, they plan to continue using the women’s prayer section of the Kotel – and
will keep trying to bring in a Torah scroll, as well.